Conflicting Emotions

Tonight, as we sleep sound in our big soft beds, our daughter's birthmother will be appearing in court to relinquish her parental rights to her daughter. This is a HUGE step in us becoming her parents and we will be incredibly excited to have this step behind us, but we need to be careful to not think of this as just another check mark in the process.

As we sleep a mother has to make a decision no mother ever hopes to make. I grieve for her that she has to go through this. I don't think I could ever fathom what making a decision like this would be like and thank God that I will never have to. For me to become a mother, another woman has to give up her daughter. This is a price that I would never have wanted to ask for to become a mother, but for some reason God, in his perfect sovereignty, has ordained this to happen this way. I have comfort, and pray that she is comforted to, in knowing that this was always God's plan. I thank God that He picked us to be this little girl's forever family. I am honored to be the woman who she will grow up calling mother. I just hope I never forget this moment and the price A's birthmother had to pay for me to be her mother. I pray that I will always be able to honor the sacrifice that will be made tonight.

Please pray with me for our daughter's birth mother. Pray that she makes it safely to court and that God gives her overwhelming peace and assurance that letting us become A's parents is the right thing to do.

Happy 4 months old

Our sweet girl turned 4 months old today. This weekend is one year since we were placed on a wait list and in ONLY 2 WEEKS we leave to meet our beautiful daughter. God is good and we are SOOO blessed.

Court Date!!

We got the call this morning that we are going to meet our daughter!! It has been yet another emotional God clinging week that has ended in big blessings. To God be ALL the glory! So what happens now? Now we book airfare, finish the nursery, register, collect donations, pack, finish the honey-do list (that's a couple years coming), pray pray pray and FLY TO ETHIOPIA to meet our little girl and legally become her parents. We don't get to bring her home yet, but this is a HUGE step to getting her home. Yes, now calling for diapers and formula, kids clothes and toys. We posted a list of donation needs for the orphanages and Hannah's Hope a couple posts back. If you would like to help, send me a message and I'll tell you how to get stuff to me. Thank you again to all who have prayed for us to get a court date. It's exciting to see God working. Please keep praying for our little girl's health. She's still healing from pneumonia and we pray that she is all better soon. Now...I've got to get to list making. So many things to do, so little time.

UP and then down....the story of our lives

So when we received our referral for our daughter on March 10th, 3 other families had received their referrals on March 9th. We are the first group of adopting families with our agency that received referrals after the MOWA announcement about reducing adoption cases reviewed, so we've been pretty anxious just wandering how in the world the changes might affect us. One possible options is that court dates would be delayed. We were very excited on Monday when the families that were referred on the 9th received their court dates. Our call didn't come, and even though I was glued to my phone yesterday, it didn't come then either (guess a watched phone never rings). But, we did get a call today. I did start freaking out today when I was driving home from work and I heard my phone ring and saw it was our caseworker. It was NOT the call we were hoping for. Nope, we still have no court date, but our sweet little A has pneumonia. She's being well taken care of and we have complete confidence in her special mothers and the pediatrician that visits HH often, but we would still really appreciate any prayers for quick healing for our little girl. While this sort of thing is pretty common in orphanage type settings, it still can be dangerous for babies and we want our little girl to be happy and HEALTHY! Please pray with us for A to get healthy quickly and for us to get a court date soon so we can GO SEE HER.

Happy 3 Months

Happy 3 month birthday baby girl. We can't wait until we have you home and can love on you and kiss you when we tell you happy monthly birthday. Love, Mommy

donations needed

Many of you have been asking what you can contribute to our pending trip to Ethiopia. Well, it is time to start gathering supplies! The way that our agency's transition home stays stocked, as well as the orphanages that our agency partners with, is through donations. Below is a list of some of the current needs. If anyone wants to help out, let me know by emailing me or sending a message on here. -amory · Oral anti-fungal medications · Ethnic hair care products for older children’s hair (shampoos, conditioners, hair lotion such as coconut oil, olive oil, and shea butter) · Cotton balls · NG-Tubes (nasogastric feeding tubes) · Scrubs (medium size, pants and tops) and Crocs (women’s sizes 7-9) for the Special Mothers · Clothing and shoes for older children (preferably new or very gently used with no stains, holes, etc.) · Formula (Soy formula is always in great need as it is more difficult to get in Ethiopia.) preferably Similac · Baby wipes · Air freshener spray (preferably that does not cause harm to infants) · Digital scale · Digital cameras (video and still-shot)

Due to some laws and our appreciation of those laws intended to protect our daughter, we can not post her birth name or any identifying pictures anywhere public, (facebook, blog...). We really do feel this is in her best interest, yet I still want to be able to share a piece of what we get to see with everyone, so I'm just going to share my favorite part. My favorite thing on a baby is when they have "screwed on" hands and feet. You know, when they have that precious baby fat ring on their wrist and ankles that makes it look like their feet and hands were just plopped on. I was fully prepared to get our referral picture and our baby to be oh so tiny and skinny, but much to my surprise, little A has the sweetest chunky dumpling legs you ever did see. So, it may seem weird, but my favorite part of her, other than a smile that could melt anyone's heart (which I can not share with you yet) , is her sweet chunky legs. So here you go!